September was crazy/busy work-wise, what with SML moving premises and Vincenzo and I being volunteered to organise a staff auction of surplus items (which of course we managed with aplomb and ruthless efficiency) – which was more time consuming and exhausting than you might think. On the up-side, I scored a couple of exceptionally sweet deals on two chairs, a plant, and a pc for Bessie to attach to her television.

On with the reckoning (I have a rather bad feeling about this): TL;DR version – of 12 projects: 4 achieved; 4 (very) partially achieved; 4 not achieved.

An equally bad month as last. And to be honest the “achieved” ones are sort of passive, changing habit things where after you get past the first couple of hurdles, you’re set. The others require much more attention and determination.

It is already 3 days in, but I’m going to try to increase my success rate for October by at least a little!

– get rid of everything we don’t need or want or things we have been holding on to for stupid reasonsNOT ACHIEVED: If anything, we added more.

war on chub

– continue with amazingly successful 5:2 diet
– no booze (except for holidays)PARTIALLY ACHIEVED: So I’ve lost 15kg, 5cm from my chest, 8cm from hips and 10.5cm from waist since I started 5:2. This is so amazingly excellent I don’t even know what to say! I had one glass of complimentary wine at sydney contemporary.

war on unnecessary spending

– don’t buy anything that is not absolutely essential – none of this fudging with the definition of essential.
– take lunch to work at least 4 days per weekNOT ACHIEVED: Oh my god no – September was crazy for kind of indulgent spending. October is looking worse.
Lunch fail again (apart from 5:2 apple-for-lunch days).

war on the uncreative

(apologies for the lame project title, alternative suggestions welcome!)
– make one thing per month
– blog at least every second day
– take at least one photo every dayNOT ACHIVED: I know I did none of this. Not even with the pix. Must shake self out of torpor.

war on blandness

– read good books | watch good films and television (at least once a week)
– eat good new things (two per month?)
– listen to one improving podcast per week
– avoid reading the increasingly dreadful smh.com.au(VERY) PARTIALLY ACHIEVED:
No, no new recipes.
No, not really very many podcasts worth speaking of.
Yes, no smh for NINE whole months.
Sort of: a few more episodes of Mr Robot. We’ve binged on antiques roadshow (shut up).
Very little reading. Still stuck on Martin Edwards: the golden age of murder. I really need to let it go – I have good things waiting and need to get on it.

war on the shoddy / shonky in ThePalace(OfLove)

– have the leaks fixed
– finish the last bits of the paintering
– get quotes for balcony sliding door | shutters | conservatory
REVISED JULY: We have an action plan for the rest of the year. It is quite comprehensive and will be somewhat costly.(VERY) PARTIALLY ACHIEVED:
– replace grout on upstairs balcony (hopefully to prevent leaks into Bessie’s room)
– paint exterior walls on upstairs balcony*
– repair (walls and ceiling) and paint Bessie’s room
– install shelves in Bessie’s room
– paint ceilings on our floor (to cover leak stains)
– have air conditioners serviced replace air-conditioners
– draft-proof front door and door to garage
– paint leak stains on Giant Wall
– coat rack for garage
– paint interior doors
– line Joe/Frank’s curtains
– (yikes!)
Air-conditioners have been serviced. Two need replacement (oh dear).
Don has patched one of Bessie’s walls and we have a pretty excellent new hole in another (which is a story for another time).

war on our genX slackerness

– get our finances in order
– get our estate planning in orderACHIEVED!: Despite being *really* profligate with the cash, we were still under budget. We do allow ourselves a reasonably generous contingency.

war on the career (see genX slackerness)

– ramp up the professionalism in dress, grooming and manner.
– just knuckle down and do this advanced manageressing course. FIVE times a week.
– take this “I am expecting big things from you in the next six months” seriously and action accordingly.PARTIALLY ACHIEVED: Rocking the dress and grooming. Definitely abandoning the advanced manageressing course, need face-to-face for that to work I think.

war on poor self-esteem

– just stop entirely reading the social media accounts of those who make me feel inadequate (of course, this is not you dear reader)ACHIEVED!: I think I can say I have cured myself of this habit – which is a good thing indeed.